Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago

Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago (born 2 August 1985) is a Brazilian Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. She was a four-time Parapan American Games champion and a double World champion in freestyle swimming.[1][2]

Maria Santiago

Personal information
Full name	Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago
Nickname(s)	Carol
Born	(1985-08-02) 2 August 1985 Recife, Brazil
Sport
Country	Brazil
Sport	Paralympic swimming
Disability	Morning glory syndrome
Disability class	S12
Club	Gremio Nautico Uniao, Porto Alegre
Coached by	Leonardo Tomasello Araujo
Medal record Paralympic swimming Representing  Brazil Parapan American Games 2019 Lima Women's 50m freestyle S12 2019 Lima Women's 100m freestyle S12 2019 Lima Women's 400m freestyle S12 2019 Lima Women's 100m backstroke S12 World Championships 2019 London Women's 50m freestyle S12 2019 London Women's 100m freestyle S12 2019 London Women's 100m backstroke S12 2019 London Women's 4x100m freestyle relay 49pts

Santiago has a congenital eye condition called morning glory syndrome which is a defect in her optic nerve, she is partially sighted in her left eye but doesn't have peripheral vision in her right eye. She began swimming aged four and took part in able-bodied swimming competitions and open water swimming aged twelve. By the age of seventeen, she was completely blind for eight months due to accumulation of water in her retina and stopped swimming. She went back to swimming a decade later aged 27 and started to swim competitively again and in 2019 at the Caixa Open, she broke the Brazilian national record in the 50m freestyle that was set by Fabiana Sugimori at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.[3]